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I reviewed electronica, jazz, hip-hop, and local music for a college radio station for four years while in grad school. Once I left the station I felt free to longer keep up with new music, only checking in periodically to see what a few of my favorite artists were up to. Otherwise, I’ve been digging for all the ’70s and ’80s funk, disco, rock, and soul from around the world that I missed (i.e. was too young to notice or know about). My only criterion, whether reviewing new music or discovering a “lost” album from the past, has always been do I like the songs. I’ve listened to The Conservatarians yearly Best Albums podcast for the last few years to hear what I’ve missed (or to gauge whether I’ve missed anything at all).

This year’s edition was certainly interesting, in that the artist’s sex, sexual orientation, and political views played such central roles in whether or not (s)he made the top five. That’s the most I’ve heard the word “(em)power” used to judge the worthiness of an artist, but I shouldn’t be surprised when cultural Marxism is the driving force behind the reviews – the class/political struggle must go on! Ultimately, I found myself drawn to the music of the one woman mentioned who didn’t want to engage in this feminist struggle, or to be pigeonholed or categorized as the best woman artist. She just wants to be the best artist period. I’d still have to listen to her music though before deciding, because the ultimate question still remains, “do I like the songs?”

I have no idea how accurate the statistics she rattled off were, but at any given time it seems to me women are dominating on the pop charts.

Here is the top 40 right now:

https://www.billboard.com/charts/pop-songs

The number 2 is by Halsey (a woman, since people not in the know couldn’t tell by her name). Hers is one of 6 songs just in the top 10 performed by a woman or with a woman, since corroborations are so popular these days. Looking through the rest of the chart we have a grand total of 22 songs out of 40 performed by or with women.

I also learned some new names. There is a girl named Madison Beer, and that is her real name!